Getting in mountain shape with no mountains around?

[Bucklowery]

First time to Rockies this year I knew it was going to be tough coming from Florida at sea level. Get in all the workout you can especially with your pack and work those quads. Just wearing a pack for 8 hours a day can wear on you if you are not use to it. We drove and left early a couple days early. I started hydration before we left. Nothing but water for three days and all me and the wife could drink on the way out there. I took this advice and think it made the difference during the 6 day hunt. I thought I done ok for a flatlander, I was toast at the end of each day but recovered well and night and started fresh the next day. My guide was part billy goat cause he showed me where they hangout. He was 28 years younger but he toughened me up that week

Thanks

Buck

 

[sp6x6]

What no mountains around I'd go crazy

 

[JD Jones]

I'm a traveling flat lander. Running 3-4x week, rucks/weighted pack hikes, CrossFit style workouts blended with regular ol weight lifting. Eat clean. Keep inflammation at bay. No excessive sugar or drinking.

Best I got. I likely can't keep up with those living and breathing mountains every day but I get by just fine

 

[Flyfisher]

I agree with the above posts that there is no substitute for elevation or training at altitude. But for some of us training at altitude before going on a hunt is not possible. I live at around 200ft above sea level and have gone on two hunts in Montana for elk at 6000-9000 ft elevation. I trained successfully in my area by doing cardiovascular exercise on a treadmill, exercise bike, and elliptical machine. I would do 4-5 days a week, varying from 20 minutes to 60 minutes. I would vary my intensity, doing interval training, sometimes at anaerobic levels, sometimes at lower aerobic levels for long durations. My experience with mountain hunting is that it is like interval training. Hiking along at a steady heart rate, having to climb and gain elevation at times, like an interval on a cardio machine, then recover your heart rate and keep moving. The harder you can safely exercise your heart and lungs through challenging, organized cardio, combined with strength training to prepare your body to climb mountains and carry your gear, the more enjoyable yoir hunt will be. I went on a hunt with a buddy who didn't train enough. Needless to say he struggled and had a difficult time negotiating the terrain.

 

[BWitz]

Having lived in Colorado for many years and hunting elk at elevations up to 11,000 feet and now living in KS, the biggest thing I do when preparing for an elk hunt at higher elevations is start drinking water like its going out of style about a month before I go on the hunt. I also stop drinking any caffeine or alcohol a month prior also. I feel plenty of water is key to success.

 

[WilliamKreschollek]

Training the body to deal with hypoxia is very difficult. The real key for flatlanders and shoremen is to never compare yourself with someone who lives at altitude.

Train to be in the best cardio health possible, drop as many pounds as possible.

Take time to acclimate at altitude, and drink lots of cocoa.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!

 

[Millerish]

A simple way to help the body is to push mow your yard with a weighted backpack. At the end of each row/strip of grass where you turn around do several squats/lunges.

 

[Canthitem]

I do Crossfit and recovery on the mountain has been good

 

[Salmonhead]

What do you do?

its been a while for me now, but for the years I hunted elk at 8,000' and I live at 650'. I was an active residential roofer, so fairly good shape to start. My cardio regiment was triple the output at home than I expected on the mountain. Where we hunted, if we humped hard for 35 minutes, we would climb the first ascent. So at home, I pushed hard at the same level for 1:30 to 1:45 to make up for the elevation. That always seemed to work out pretty well.

 

[Marky_mark]

its 90% mental and 10% physical
So many guys in the best shape of their lives, quit on bucket list hunts

 

[huckfin]

I know there are a million workout programs but do a little research yourself on how the body works and adapts. Listen to Andrew Huberman on YouTube when he talks about endurance training and strength training. It could help you get the most out of your workout and not exercise in futility and end up injures and worse shape then you started in.

 

[detgw7914]

I live in Kansas there just are not any mountains. The steepest slope that I could find was the back side of a Corp of Engineer dam. So when I hunted elk a few years ago, I would go over and climb up and down that slope. For a guy over 60 with a bad leg, it helped to get used to the steepness of slopes as well as getting my legs and lungs in shape.

 

[killintime71]

I mountain bike and am back to running, strength train about 4x a week, but I have to set down the spoon and bottle. A few years ago I mountian biked, rafted, and a few 14er's across NM and CO and did not have any soreness. Started out in Taos acclimated, then to CO with no real issues. Plan on ramping up all activity and doing multi-day training hikes resolving the diet. At 51, you can't out train a ****** diet, but I have plenty of time to resolve the issue.

 

[MtnOak]

I hit our high school football stadium bleachers an hour before work starting in June, by July I'm there an hour and half mixing running or fast pace walk around the track, by August 1st I'm wearing a pack with what I have in it while hunting out west, with about 2 weeks before I leave I have about 45lbs in the pack doing bleachers and track, by September 1st I'm ready and in pretty good shape.
Been doing this for about 6 years now, before I just jogged or walked with a pack and weight down a country road.